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First Vaccine to Beat Cancer!
By KWiz | January 11, 2007
Do you have young daughters? Imagine your daughter (whose name is Ms. Looking for a Clue) is an adult now, and she is having the following conversation with her gynecologist:
Dr. Gynie: Your pap smear came back abnormal.
Ms. Looking for a Clue (L.C.): What does that mean?
Dr. Gynie: We need to do a biopsy.
Ms. L.C.: Why?
Dr. Gynie: It appears you have what is referred to as severe dysplasia.
Ms. L.C.: What does that mean?
Dr. Gynie: It appears that pre-cancerous cells have formed on your cervix. You’re one stage from those cells developing into cancerous cells if we don’t remove them soon.
If you could, you’d want to prevent this situation from happening to your daughter, wouldn’t you? I never want my 2-1/2 year old daughter having to have this conversation, and if I can help it, I will do all I can to prevent her from having it because I was Ms. Looking for a Clue over 15 years ago.
In many cases, we can now prevent our daughters from encountering this situation. How? Through the recently FDA-approved Gardasil HPV vaccine developed by Merck & Co, Inc.
The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most commonly sexually-transmitted infection in the United States. According to statistics from several sources:
- HPV causes about 70% of all cervical cancers.
- HPV causes about 90% of cases of genital warts.
- Depending on the source, between 10,000 and 14,000 cases of HPV are diagnosed annually in the U.S. More than 3,900 of those cases result in death each year.
- Depending on the source, there are between 370,000 and 470,000 new cases diagnosed each year worldwide. More than 233,000 of those cases result in death each year.
- In the U.S., 80% of women by the age of 50 will have been infected with HPV.
- In the U.S., 50% of sexually active people have HPV.
- The strains of HPV that are known to cause cervical cancer do not produce any symptoms.
- There is currently no cure for HPV.
While there is presently no cure for HPV, Gardasil was 100% effective against HPV strains which are responsible for the 70% of cervical cancer cases mentioned above. In addition, it was 99% effective against HPV strains which are responsible for the 90% of cases of genital warts. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
“…Immunization with Gardasil is expected to prevent most cases of cervical cancer due to HPV types included in the vaccine. However, females are not protected if they have been infected with that HPV type(s) prior to vaccination, indicating the importance of immunization before potential exposure to the virus. Also, Gardasil does not protect against less common HPV types not included in the vaccine, thus routine and regular pap screening remain critically important to detect precancerous changes in the cervix to allow treatment before cervical cancer develops.”
In other words, the vaccine cannot cure HPV in cases where women have already been exposed to and have contracted it. But it surely can prevent HPV in women who have never been sexually active.
January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Become educated about HPV. Educate others about HPV. Ensure you get your pap smears annually, as that is the best method of determining the presence of HPV and detecting precancerous cells. And as it becomes available, let’s ensure our young daughters get the Gardasil vaccine before they become sexually active.
I’ve heard it said that death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. Oh, but it is – when it can be prevented.
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Topics: Health and Wellness | 2 Comments »
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January 14th, 2007 at 2:14 am
This evening while watching the Terminal there was a commercial for the vaccine and I commented to my husband that the correlation of the vaccine to hpv and genital warts was referred to very quickly. The commercial focused more on preventing cervical cancer. The taboo surrounding speaking frankly about sex oftentimes causes censorship of the facts. I want to thank you for providing a concise, and thorough explanation.
Danielle a.k.a. taureandevi.blogspot.com
January 14th, 2007 at 2:47 am
Thank you for your reply, Danielle. I think that is the problem today, not being honest about sex and its implications for the long-term. Our society plays up sex so much, neglecting its sometimes devastating effects, especially for young girls and women. I know I will want my daughter to be completely educated about these issues when it is time. The scary thing about it, though, is that it seems that time will come upon me way too soon.